Part of the Family
by TheCleaningWitch
Summary: The pressure in the cabin climbs to new heights as another member is added to the crew. Martin expected a klutzy newbie with no idea what they were getting into. He was definetly not prepared for what was coming. Eventual MartinxOC, but first few chapters are humor. Rated T just in case.
1. Mistaken Introductions

**Author's Note**

Hello. It it I, the Author. I've been thinking up this story for a while, and though this is a short first installment, if I get a positive reaction, I will continue to write about the adventures of the cabin crew. This is my first story on FanFiction, so please read and review. I'd love to know what you think and how I can improve!  
Thanks,

The Cleaning Witch

* * *

Martin stood in the lobby of Gatwick airport, shifting from foot to foot. He checked his watch again, then realized that the time was probably wrong and looked around. Caroline had told him that he was supposed to be meeting a "Rory", who was to be the new steward. He reminded Caroline that they didn't need to staff anyone else, especially since _some_ of the cabin crew were _already_ not being paid. He scanned the lobby, which was still under construction. The crude metal rafters did nothing for the atmosphere of the airport, welcoming guests with a rough gritty hug, as if one were embraced by sandpaper. Martin sighed, looked at his watch again, then exited to the slightly better looking waiting room.

The word slightly is only used because there were no metal beams across the ceiling. Though there was a whole wall of glass looking out on the airfield, the room itself was a drab grey colour that blended in with the fog from this morning, visible from the glass viewing area. Rows upon rows of sparsely cushioned blue seats huddled together in clumps across the room, leading right up to the elevator to descend into England. He scanned dully over the seats and almost missed the one person in the room with him. Martin did a sort of double-take. There was a woman sitting in one of the rows of seats, watching the airplanes take off.

She had a small smile on her ice-pink lips as she gazed around the tarmac. Martin straightened up evidently and put on his captain's hat. The woman was about his age, and a kind of intense pretty. Dark hair fell to the small of her back, and dark grey eyes analyzed the planes as they went by. Her figure was slim and of average height, he guessed. She probably enjoyed planes. How they worked, how to fly them, _who_ flew them… Martin whipped his head back ahead of him as if Caroline had barked at him. Rory. Rory. He was supposed to be waiting for Rory. He snuck another glance at the woman by the window. She had focused in on one plane in particular. He craned his neck to get a better look, then cringed as he spotted what the woman was gazing at. She was looking at the aircraft Golf Echo Romeo Tango India intently, Arthur's MJN Air paint job standing up proudly against her gaze. _Well, I can't very well approach her now that she knows I drive that pile of gaffer tape and string._ Martin sighed, checked his watch again, and faced the doors coming into the airport.

"Martin?" Caroline Knapp-Shappey's voice floated around the corner, and Martin jumped. He didn't notice the woman's head turn at the sound of Caroline's voice. They came en masse around the corner: Caroline heading up the lead, Arthur looking around and smiling like, well, like he did, and Douglas bringing up the sarcastic rear of the group.

"Y-yes?"

"Where, dear Martin, is our new cabin crew member? Rory's plane landed half an hour a-" Caroline looked over Martin's shoulder, and her telling off face turned into her happy face (though Martin couldn't really distinguish between the two). She stepped around Martin and started walking again. Arthur ran past her as Martin turned around to see the woman standing with a small smile on her face.

"Rory!" Arthur hugged the woman tightly, picking her up off her feet. She laughed as he set her down, and hugged him back. Martin was astounded.

"What are you doing?" he hissed as he trotted quickly towards the group. He pulled Arthur and the woman apart. "So sorry miss, I just need to talk to Mr. Shappey for a moment-what are you doing?" Martin turned on Arthur, who still had his trademark grin on his face.  
"It's Rory." Arthur looked over his shoulder and shot a smile at the woman.  
"No, it can't be Rory." Martin shook his head fervently.  
"Why not?"  
"Because Rory isn't a girl's name."  
"Actually Martin," Caroline said, as Martin turned around to find a very cross-looking head-stewardess and the other woman, "Rory is a perfectly good name for a girl. Especially when it's short for Aurora." Martin stood in a shocked silence for a moment. Never in his mind had he thought that Rory was a girl. He looked at her as Rory greeted Douglas with a handshake and a smile. She turned on him then, her smile gone, and extended her right hand.

"Aurora Lancaster. Pleased to finally be noticed, Captain Crieff."  
"Agmmna." Martin responded, a little stunned by the whole ordeal. Rory smiled at Caroline, and, surprisingly, Caroline smiled back.  
"Good to see you, Aunt Caroline."  
"And you, dear child."

This was about too much for Martin. He blankly followed the rest of the group as they exited the lobby.


	2. 15 Minutes to Cuba

"Good to see you, GERTI." Rory said under her breath as she ran a hand over the worn blue seats. The crew had just entered the plane, and Arthur had immediately decided to fill her in on all the happenings of the past year. Martin cringed as he stepped into the plane, hearing Arthur rant and rave about everything from how Douglas won the drinking game that year to how the travelling lemon once ended up on Martin's hat.

"… and Skip has this other job to! He drives around in a van-"  
" Arthur!" Martin hissed. Rory turned and raised an eyebrow. To avoid looking at Rory, Martin decided to focus on Arthur, who was also looking at him, albeit somewhat more questioning than Rory was.

"What, Skip? You do drive around in a van and –"

"Yes, but my primary job is captain." Martin outlined clearly, subconciously touching his captain's hat as if for comfort. Rory shrugged, then continued to walk down the asile of seats. A rather large sigh of relief was heard behind her, along with a low pitched chortle, then the smack of someone's fist on another person's shoulder. All of this was almost drowned out by the sound of Arthur babbling on about the polar bears. Reaching the flight deck of the plane, everyone filed into the control room at the request of Caroline. After the door closed, Caroline turned to the crew. This in turn made everyone become very uneasy, as the woman standing in front of the exit had her "Now, gentleman..." smile on. The old lady turned to Rory, bringing out a bundle of navy and yellow cloth from behind her back.

"Alright, gentleman. And Rory. I hope you are all relaxed and ready, as we set out for Cuba in..." at this she checked her watch "ooh, about fifteen minutes."

"Fifteen?" Douglas and Martin said in almost unison, with Arthur saying "Wow! Cuba!" Calamity ensued for a short time in wich Douglas muttered about sunscreen and proper attire, Martin complained about finding someone to do a delivery for him because he hadn't scheduled in another flight until Wednesday, and Arthur talked excitedly about Cuba. Caroline raised an open hand, and silence ensued.

"Now that you have that out of your system, I do suggest you prepare yourselves. Our passengers arrive in five minutes." A cummulative groan. Rory rose from her seat and walked towards the door.

"Where are you going, then?" Martin asked angrily. If everyone had to stay in the plane, then there was no sense in anyone leaving the flight deck until they had to. Rory turned, both eyes narrowed in an expression that was bordering on breaking glass.  
"Due to the fact that passengers are arriving and I just arrived, I do need to get changed into my uniform. Unless you would rather I do it here." Martin could feel the blood draining from his face as Douglas and Arthur broke into fits of quiet laughter. Caroline even cracked a smile as Rory curtseyed and pulled the cabin door open.

"Martin..." Douglas tried to catch his breath as Martin glared at him.  
"Not now, Douglas." he turned quickly to the controls and began to do the pre-flight check. Arthur and Caroline quickly exited, leaving the two pilots to proceed. They went on in silence through the pre-flight check until it was complete. All that was left now was to wait for Caroline to give the go ahead.

"You could have warned me." Martin muttered sulkily to Douglas.  
"About what?"  
"About Rory. Aurora. That she was a girl. And why does everyone welcome her so warmly?" Douglas settled down in his chair, then turned to face Martin.  
"Rory has worked for MJN for three years as a stewardess. It's what she's always wanted to do, besides learn how to fly a plane. However, her mother expected other things from her. Do you remember Caroline's sister?" At this Martin shuddered, then nodded. "She was none too pleased that her daughter was working for her sister. Rory's mother forced her into a buisness degree a year ago. She left two weeks before we signed you on. However, as you've no doubt noticed, Rory does not enjoy getting forced into things. What was supposed to be a four-year buisness program, she finished in a year."  
"And her mother let her come back?" Douglas smiled in a way that seemed that the answer was not entirely morally correct.  
"Her mother still thinks she's at the University."  
"Won't she figure it out, though?"  
"Eventually, but what matters is that Rory uses this time to build a convincing argument against her mother. And who better to consult than the woman that isolated Rory's mother in the first place."  
"Oh." Martin said, turning back to the controls. "I see."  
"Martin, don't you dare say anything of this to Caroline or Rory. They are both very touchy on the subject, and if they know I told you, unspeakable things might happen."  
"I won't bring it up, Douglas."  
"Thank you." Douglas then turned to his bag and began to rifle through the contents. Martin, who was set to do the pre-flight announcement, turned quickly to the unwelcome and dreaded sound of Douglas doing something without his knowledge.

"Douglas, what are you doing?" Martin questionned in a low, quiet voice. His expression became that of fear as Douglas pulled an object from the bag and smiled wickedly at Martin.  
"I'm sure you know how to play this game, Martin."  
"No, Douglas, not this time. I need to make a good impression."  
"On who, the passengers? They really don't give a damn, you know."  
"No! I mean, to Rory." Douglas raised an eyebrow, then began to laugh. Martin's voice quickly took on a clipped and agitated manner.  
"What? I think first impressions are important, and since I botched my first two tries, I figure I should do well on my third." Douglas just kept laughing.  
"I don't think you understand." Douglas said, between fits of giggles. "Rory was part of the initial creation of the game. She was the one who thought up the use of the lemon. It will be a good way to welcome her back along with showing her that you aren't the stick-in-the-mud captain that you make yourself out to be. Come on, it will be harmless."  
"Whenever you say that, I get extremely worried."

* * *

Welcome to Chapter Two. Please Read and Review.


	3. Playing Doubles

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to MJN Air. We are in Gatwick airport at the moment, but will be taking off in a few minutes. Today we will be flying you wonderful people over to the sunny island of Cuba, just below Florida and right beside the Bahamas. This is Martin Crieff, your captain speaking. Please turn your attention to the stewards, as they go through the safety demonstration. One of them is new, please go easy on her. Thank you for choosing MJN air." The last two phrases were said with astounding speed as the intercom button shut off. Rory turned to the fifteen passengers and smiled brightly. Mentally, she scowled at the announcement, but continued doing the hand motions required of her during the safety demonstration. She wasn't new, she had three years of practice. She deftly slipped on the life preserver, and showed the inattentive passengers how to properly inflate, manually and automatically, the plastic vest. Slipping it off, she moved with Arthur towards the back of the aircraft to check on cargo, while Caroline went to the front to stop the bickering between the pilot and co-pilot that was inevitably going to occur. Pushing a lock of dark brown hair out of her face, she poked her head in the luggage bay to make sure everything was secure. The crew at Gatwick had done an excellent job of making sure everyone's suitcases were trussed up tightly and unable to move. She closed the door to the bay and turned, only to come face to face with Arthur, who grinned uncontrollably.

"So how was University?" He asked excitedly, almost bouncing up and down on his heels. Rory smiled tiredly, and shrugged.  
"I was taking four times the recommended course load over the span of a year and a summer. I was tired as hell and did not get any sleep except on holidays." There was a pause.  
"Wow! I mean, I've stayed up all night before, but that's just ridiculous. How did you make it?" Rory smiled.  
"That was the easy part. Caroline kept sending me letters and photos of the cabin crew, and even a plastic lemon for my birthday. Remember the time you called me at Christmas? Even Douglas would write me a quick word on the envelope of Caroline's letters sometimes. Mostly about who won Birling day that year, but still. As long as I could keep GERTY in my head, then I knew I would come back one day."

"Wow. That's really cool. I'm really glad you're back. I think everyone is, even Skip."  
"Ski p, er, Martin didn't even know I existed until this morning. How could he be happy I'm back?" Another pause.

"He's happy. I can tell. He's-" Arthur was cut off as the seatbelt sign flashed on. There were two seats on the flight deck and one in the back, so Arthur opted to stay behind and look after the passengers. Maybe one of them enjoyed polar bears.

Rory slid the door shut on her way into the flight deck, quickly taking a seat on the chair attached to the wall on her right. Doing up her seatbelt, she looked over and smiled at Caroline, who was doing the same thing on the opposite side of the door.  
"Prepare for takeoff." Martin said formally, flicking a few switches on the dashboard before the airplane began to gain speed. This was her favorite part of flying, and coincidentally, the part that got most people quite ill. As the plane lifted from the ground, she let out a small sigh of relief. She wasn't sure that her mother hadn't found out her devious plan to run away to join the cabin crew, but Rory was now one hundred percent certain that her mother could not possibly find her while she was on a plane going a few time zones away. After another two minutes, the seatbelt light turned off, leaving the passengers free to move about as they pleased. Douglas turned around in his seat and gave Rory a wink.  
"Back in the air at last, eh?" Rory laughed a little, still surprised that flying could still make her feel like a giddy child on Christmas morning.  
"And we have just the way to pass the time on this nine-hour flight." Caroline joined in, unbuckling her seatbelt and reaching into her bag. With a triumphant 'ha', she pulled out a familiar yellow object. Brandishing it proudly, she looked up to see Douglas holding the same thing.  
"Great minds think alike, I see." He said, smiling cheekily.  
"We'll have to play doubles, then." Rory said, unbuckling her seatbelt. Martin remained silent throughout the conversation, not wanting to be dragged into this at all. However he could not stop himself from looking over his shoulder from time to time at the newcomer. She had seemed to brighten significantly after takeoff, and it was interesting to wa- oh god she'd seen him. Abort. Abort. Martin 's head snapped back to the controls, his eyes wide and breathing funny.  
"I think maybe men versus women would be the best teams, here." Douglas mused thoughtfully. His train of thought was this: if Martin would be convinced to play, and if he got put with Caroline, there would be some serious competitive nature brought out in Caroline, which did not work well with Martin. If Martin were put with Rory, Douglas doubted he'd ever even find the lemon, nor utter a word to his teammate. So it would have to be him and Martin, and Caroline and Rory. "What do you say, Martin? Are you in?"  
Martin wavered, his grip on the controls tight.  
"It doesn't look as if he wants to." Rory said, standing and leaning against the wall. Abruptly, Martin turned around.  
"Alright, I'll do it."  
"Good lad." Douglas said, smacking him amicably on the back. Martin, however, felt a rising sense of panic as Rory and Caroline regrouped in their side of the cabin, studying him carefully before constructing a game plan.

"Mum, we have a problem." Arthur said loudly as he entered the cabin. Caroline looked up from her watch, which she was using to time Rory and Douglas' run for the lemon. Whoever found their lemon first won the match. If they found the other team's lemon, which was hidden by the opposite team's other member, they had to re-hide it and keep searching. Martin sat in his pilot's chair, worrying that he had either hid the lemon too well or too poorly. He couldn't decide which.  
"What is it, Arthur?" Caroline said, looking up with an eyebrow raised. Arthur took a few deep breaths, then started.  
"Well, I was serving the lunches to the passengers, and it was fine, and Rory helped, and – "  
"Did she have the lemon?" Martin and Caroline asked as one.  
"Um, no, not yet, I don't think. But anyways, there was this man in row E, and he was really pale."  
"Was he ill?" Caroline asked.  
"No, no. But he had these yellow eyes, and the pale skin, and the hair that kind of sticks up. Mum, I think he's a vampire." There was a moment of silence.  
"A vampire?" Arthur nodded fervently.  
"Arthur, dear, there is no such think as vampires."  
"Are you sure, mum? Are you really, really sure?"  
"Yes. Yes I am." At this point Douglas entered the cockpit, a lemon in hand.  
"Is this it?" he asked, showing the lemon to Caroline. She examined it thoroughly.  
"Where did you find it?"  
"In the microwave." Martin groaned. Douglas straightened, then turned menacingly.  
"Did you hide Rory's lemon in the microwave?" Martin winced, nodding. Douglas snatched the lemon back from the smugly smiling Caroline, and stomped back out of the cabin. Arthur shifted his weight from foot to foot.  
"I'm going to go back and check on the passengers." He said nervously, going for the door.  
"You are not allowed to ask the man if he is a vampire." Caroline said frankly.  
"Yes, Mum."  
"Or ask the other passengers."  
"Yes, Mum."  
"Or ask him if he wants blood with his lunch." Arthur snapped his fingers.  
"I thought you were going to miss that one. Yes, Mum." Arthur took his leave. Caroline returned back to her watch, and Martin turned back to the controls. A few minutes passed before Caroline looked up.  
"I'm sorry about the mishap earlier, Martin."  
"I-I don't know what you're referring to."  
"The whole Rory business. I had forgotten that you hadn't actually met her before."  
"I had shown up after she'd left, of course I haven't met her before." Martin turned around to look at Caroline.  
"Yes, well, sorry."  
"Sorry enough to give me a raise?"  
"Don't be ridiculous, Martin." With a slide of the door, Rory triumphantly entered the flight deck.  
"Found it in the microwave." She said triumphantly, turning to Martin. "Douglas should be in any minute now." Martin nodded, looking at anything besides the person who was addressing him. Rory's eyes narrowed, turning quickly on her heel. "Arthur looked quite worked up outside, do you know what that's about?"  
"He thinks one of the passengers is a vampire."  
"The one in row E?"  
"Oh not you too."  
"No, it's just that he's been avoiding him the whole time. Should I be asking him if he wants anything to drink?"  
"Probably." Rory nodded, then left the cabin without another word. On her way out, she gave a bright smile to the grumpy copilot entering the cabin, lemon in hand.  
"Did she get it?" Caroline nodded smugly, stopping her stopwatch. With a few choice words, he sat down in his copilot's chair and ran a hand through his hair. "Only five minutes this time through, we're getting quite good. The score is now eleven, eight."  
"Could we maybe take a break?" Martin asked hopefully, turning about in his chair. The glares shot at him from both occupants of the cabin said it all.  
"We don't quit until we win. This is as important as the World Cup, if not more so. We must do this for London. For England, for Great Britain!" Douglas stood, his rousing speech completely lost as Arthur swept back the door to the cabin and closed it with a bang.  
"Rory's bleeding! The vampire man's eating her!" he yelped, gesturing at Caroline to come quickly. A collective cry of "what!?" was heard from all sides as everyone ran for the door. Martin got there first, his captain's hat jammed firmly on his head as he threw the cabin door open, all four spilling out into the passenger area. Everyone looked up, laptops still open and headphone speakers whispering softly as they were pulled out of ears. The stewardess serving the gentleman in row E also looked up, a brown eyebrow arching highly. She put the bottle of red liquid she was pouring into the man's glass onto the trolley, smiling at the man before turning back to the two stewards, the copilot, and the pilot. Taking a step towards them she said in a quiet voice: "Is everything alright?"  
Martin went red, Caroline and Douglas rolled their eyes, and Arthur winced, checking his cousin over for bite marks. Caroline quickly took charge, ushering everyone back into the flight deck.  
"What on earth were you all doing?" Rory exclaimed, leaning against the wall.  
"Uuuh, uuuum, uuuuh…."  
"What Martin was trying to say, Rory," Douglas stepped in front of the stuttering man, "was that we were led to believe that you were injured, bleeding out, and being eaten by the Vampire Man of row E." Rory's other eyebrow joined the first as it ascended.  
"I saw him biting you." Arthur said worriedly. Rory began to chuckle.  
"Did you mean you saw him kiss me on the hand?"  
"He what?" Caroline and Martin said at the same time, then gave a sideways glance at the other speaker.  
"B-but what about the blood in the glass?" Arthur jumped in again, speaking hurriedly.  
"It wasn't blood, it was red wine."Rory said, trying her best not to burst into a fit of giggles.  
"What happened, then? From the beginning." Caroline said, trying to be the sane person on this flight of lunatics.  
"He complimented me on my looks, I asked him if he wanted anything to drink, and then he kissed my hand and said red wine. Is that such a foreign concept?"  
"The red wine, or the kissing?" Martin said. Rory turned her laser vision on him. Caroline quickly stepped between them, knowing exactly the look her niece had on her face, having seen it many times before on herself and her sister.  
"Small misunderstanding aside, we're all doing swimmingly, with only, ooh," at this point she pulled up her sleeve to check the time on her wrist, "five and a half hours to go! This should be child's play from here on in." She looked around at her children, all four of them.  
"Maybe we should start in on word games now." Douglas said, sliding into his copilot's chair. Martin walked over to sit in his, not daring to look behind him at the Shappey family. This was going to be a long five and a half hours.

* * *

For Sam. Happy Valentine's Day.


End file.
